Interactive data analysis and scheduling

ABSTRACT

A data analysis system is disclosed that receives data from a master data system to enable useful and efficient rescheduling of items, taking into account effects of various rescheduling options on various metrics related to the items and/or the scheduling. The data analysis system includes sophisticated data analysis and interactive graphical user interface functionality to enable efficient, multi-variable evaluation of various rescheduling options. The interactive graphical user interface includes interactive functionality for suggesting rescheduling options in view of the effects of those changes on various metrics, evaluating various rescheduling options in view of effects on the various metrics, adjusting instances of metrics related to items/timelines in view of scheduling changes, and the like. Once a set of schedule modifications are determined by the data analysis system, the data analysis system can push the schedule modifications back to the master data system for implementation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/873,373, filed Jul. 12, 2019, and titled “INTERACTIVE DATAANALYSIS AND SCHEDULING.” The entire disclosure of each of the aboveitems is hereby made part of this specification as if set forth fullyherein and incorporated by reference for all purposes, for all that itcontains.

BACKGROUND

A data system may include multiple types of data, spread across numerousdata stores and/or databases, each of which may comprise data indifferent formats. Some of that data may include data related totime-sensitive scheduling of a large number of items. Some of that datamay include various metrics related to the items and/or the scheduling.For various reasons, it may be desirable or needed to modify theschedule of the items. Various options for rescheduling of the items mayhave various effects, positive or negative, across the various metrics.However, due to the disparate data stores, databases, and formats, thedata system may not be capable of enabling a holistic evaluation of theeffects of various rescheduling options. Additionally, even if therelevant data could be combined and evaluated, the large number ofvariables, and the variables' effects on one another, can create anexponentially complicated problem when evaluating rescheduling options.Accordingly, it may be technically unfeasible to enable useful orefficient rescheduling of items using the data system.

SUMMARY

A “data analysis system” is disclosed that receives data from a masterdata system to enable useful and efficient rescheduling of items, takinginto account effects of various rescheduling options on various metricsrelated to the items and/or the scheduling. Data of two general typesare received by the data analysis system and from the master datasystem: time-sensitive data (e.g., schedule data), and other data (e.g.,various types of metric data). As compared to the other data, thetime-sensitive data may be received more frequently, and may beprocessed more frequently, by the data analysis system, to provide moreefficient use of resources and more sensitive up-to-date information formanaging rescheduling. Other data may be received and processedrelatively less frequently, as slightly less up-to-date, e.g., metricdata may have a relatively smaller impact on rescheduling evaluation(e.g., as compared to the effect slightly less up-to-date schedulingdata may have).

The data analysis system includes sophisticated data analysis andinteractive graphical user interface functionality to enable efficient,multi-variable evaluation of various rescheduling options. Theinteractive graphical user interface may include functionality forselecting a subset of the items, selecting a relevant time frame forrescheduling evaluation of the subset of items, and selecting a primarymetric evaluating the rescheduling options. The interactive graphicaluser interface may generally include three additional portions: a firstportion with a plurality of timelines each associated with a differentone of the subset of items, and with indications of instances of theprimary metric located relative to the timelines; a second portion withcalculated metric information associated with a selected part of atimeline or a selected indication of an instance of the primary metric;and a third portion with a log of scheduling changes, and a summary ofthe effects of the scheduling changes on various metrics. Theinteractive graphical user interface includes interactive functionalityfor suggesting rescheduling options in view of the effects of thosechanges on various metrics, evaluating various rescheduling options inview of effects on the various metrics, adjusting instances of metricsrelated to items/timelines in view of scheduling changes, and the like.

Once a set of schedule modifications are determined by the data analysissystem, the data analysis system can push the schedule modificationsback to the master data system for implementation. Accordingly, the dataanalysis system can enable efficient solutions to the complex problem ofrescheduling of items, taking into account various metrics, and usingdata from potentially disparate data sources.

Accordingly, in various implementations, large amounts of data areautomatically and dynamically calculated interactively in response touser inputs, and the calculated data is efficiently and compactlypresented to a user by the system. Thus, in some implementations, theuser interfaces described herein are more efficient as compared toprevious user interfaces in which data is not dynamically updated andcompactly and efficiently presented to the user in response tointeractive inputs.

Further, as described herein, the system may be configured and/ordesigned to generate user interface data useable for rendering thevarious interactive user interfaces described. The user interface datamay be used by the system, and/or another computer system, device,and/or software program (for example, a browser program), to render theinteractive user interfaces. The interactive user interfaces may bedisplayed on, for example, electronic displays (including, for example,touch-enabled displays).

Additionally, it has been noted that design of computer user interfaces“that are useable and easily learned by humans is a non-trivial problemfor software developers.” (Dillon, A. (2003) User Interface Design.MacMillan Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, Vol. 4, London: MacMillan,453-458.) The various implementations of interactive and dynamic userinterfaces of the present disclosure are the result of significantresearch, development, improvement, iteration, and testing. Thisnon-trivial development has resulted in the user interfaces describedherein which may provide significant cognitive and ergonomicefficiencies and advantages over previous systems. The interactive anddynamic user interfaces include improved human-computer interactionsthat may provide reduced mental workloads, improved decision-making,reduced work stress, and/or the like, for a user. For example, userinteraction with the interactive user interfaces described herein mayprovide an optimized display of information and may enable a user tomore quickly access, navigate, assess, and digest such information thanprevious systems.

In some implementations, data may be presented in graphicalrepresentations, such as visual representations, such as timelines,charts, and graphs, where appropriate, to allow the user to comfortablyreview the large amount of data and to take advantage of humans'particularly strong pattern recognition abilities related to visualstimuli. In some implementations, the system may present aggregatequantities, such as totals, counts, and averages. The system may alsoutilize the information to interpolate or extrapolate, e.g. forecast,future developments.

Further, the interactive and dynamic user interfaces described hereinare enabled by innovations in efficient interactions between the userinterfaces and underlying systems and components. For example, disclosedherein are improved methods of receiving user inputs, translation anddelivery of those inputs to various system components, automatic anddynamic execution of complex processes in response to the inputdelivery, automatic interaction among various components and processesof the system, and automatic and dynamic updating of the userinterfaces. The interactions and presentation of data via theinteractive user interfaces described herein may accordingly providecognitive and ergonomic efficiencies and advantages over previoussystems.

Various implementations of the present disclosure provide improvementsto various technologies and technological fields. For example, asdescribed above, existing data storage and processing technology(including, e.g., in memory databases) is limited in various ways (e.g.,manual data review is slow, costly, and less detailed; data is toovoluminous; etc.), and various implementations of the disclosure providesignificant improvements over such technology. Additionally, variousimplementations of the present disclosure are inextricably tied tocomputer technology. In particular, various implementations rely ondetection of user inputs via graphical user interfaces, calculation ofupdates to displayed electronic data based on those user inputs,automatic processing of related electronic data, and presentation of theupdates to displayed images via interactive graphical user interfaces.Such features and others (e.g., processing and analysis of large amountsof electronic data) are intimately tied to, and enabled by, computertechnology, and would not exist except for computer technology. Forexample, the interactions with displayed data described below inreference to various implementations cannot reasonably be performed byhumans alone, without the computer technology upon which they areimplemented. Further, the implementation of the various implementationsof the present disclosure via computer technology enables many of theadvantages described herein, including more efficient interaction with,and presentation of, various types of electronic data.

In certain implementations, a computer-implemented method comprises, byone or more processors executing program instructions: receiving a firstset of data from a source data system, the first set of data comprisingat least schedule data indicating a schedule of a set of items;receiving a second set of data from the source data system, the secondset of data including at least metric data related to the set of items;receiving one or more modifications to the schedule of the set of itemsvia an interactive graphical user interface; generating schedule updatedata based at least in part on the one or more modifications to theschedule; and communicating the schedule update data to the source datasystem.

The method of the preceding paragraph can be implemented together withany combination of the following features, among others: by the one ormore processors executing program instructions, periodically orintermittently receiving updates to the first set of data from thesource data system, periodically or intermittently receiving updates tothe second set of data from the source data system, and updating theinteractive graphical user interface in response to receiving at leastthe updates to the first set of data; the updates to the first set ofdata are received more frequently than the updates to the second set ofdata, due at least in part to a time-sensitivity of the first set ofdata relative to the second set of data.

Moreover, the methods of the preceding paragraphs can be implementedtogether with any combination of the following features, among others:by the one or more processors executing program instructions, generatinguser interface data useable for rendering the interactive graphical userinterface, the interactive graphical user interface including at least,a first user interface portion including at least a plurality oftimelines generated based at least in part on a subset of the scheduledata associated with a selected subset of the items; by the one or moreprocessors executing program instructions, receiving a first user input,via the first user interface portion, selecting a first part of a firsttimeline of a first item, determining possible schedule change optionsfrom others of the plurality of timelines of the selected subset of theitems, indicating or highlighting, in the first user interface portion,parts of the plurality of timelines to indicate the determined possibleschedule change options, if any, and in response to a second user inputindicating a selection of a schedule change option associated with asecond part of a second timeline of a second item, determiningmodifications to the schedules associated with the first item and thesecond item to effectuate the selected schedule change, and updating atleast the first user interface portion to indicate changes to theschedules associated with the first item and the second item in view ofthe selected schedule change; by the one or more processors executingprogram instructions, generating the schedule update data and/orcommunicating the schedule update data to the source data system areinitiated in response to a third user input; the first user interfaceportion further includes at least one or more indications of instancesof a selected metric, wherein the one or more indications are spatiallylocated adjacent to timelines of items to which the respective instancesof the selected metric relate; the one or more indications areconfigured to provide a visual representation of whether or not therespective instances of the selected metric are associated with parts oftimelines of items; by the one or more processors executing programinstructions, in response to determining modifications to schedules inresponse to selection of a schedule change option, determining updatesto the one or more indications of instances of the selected metric, andupdating at least the first user interface portion to indicate theupdates to the updates to the one or more indications; timelinecomprises groupings of the selected subset of items based on at leastone of user indication of items to pin, results of a search query, alist of all items of a group of related items; the groupings areseparately sortable and/or filterable.

Moreover, the methods of the preceding paragraphs can be implementedtogether with any combination of the following features, among others:the interactive graphical user interface further includes at least, asecond user interface portion including at least calculated metricinformation associated with a selected part of the timeline or aselected indication of an instance of a selected metric; the calculatedmetric information is associated with a selected part of the timelinecomprising a selected movement of an item, and wherein thecomputer-implemented method further comprises, by the one or moreprocessors executing program instructions, determining, for the selectedmovement, one or more possible schedule change options from others ofthe plurality of timelines of the selected subset of the items,calculating updated metric information associated with each of the oneor more possible change options, and including in the second userinterface portion a listing of the possible schedule change options andthe associated updated metric information associated with each; theupdated metric information is provided at least in part as one or morecolored shapes with overlaid numerical indicators indicating effects ofthe one or more possible schedule change options on various metrics; thecalculated metric information is associated with a first selectedindication of an instance of a selected metric, the first selectedindication of the instance of the selected metric is associated with apoint in time and a third item, but not associated with a part of atimeline of the third item, and the computer-implemented method furthercomprises, by the one or more processors executing program instructions,determining, for each of a plurality of subsequent parts of the timelineof the third item, a suitability of the subsequent part of the timelinefor association with first selected indication of the instance of theselected metric, and including in the second user interface portion alisting or graph of the plurality of subsequent parts of the timeline ofthe third item and the associated determined suitabilities associatedwith each.

Moreover, the methods of the preceding paragraphs can be implementedtogether with any combination of the following features, among others:the interactive graphical user interface further includes at least athird user interface portion including at least a log of modificationsto the schedule of the set of items; the third user interface portionfurther includes at least a summary of calculated metric informationincluding a comparison of the calculated metric information before themodifications to the schedule and after the modifications to theschedule; the comparison of the calculated metric information isprovided at least in part as one or more colored shapes with overlaidnumerical indicators indicating effects of the modification to theschedule on various metrics.

Additional implementations of the disclosure are described below inreference to the appended claims, which may serve as an additionalsummary of the disclosure.

In various implementations, systems and/or computer systems aredisclosed that comprise a computer readable storage medium havingprogram instructions embodied therewith, and one or more processorsconfigured to execute the program instructions to cause the systemsand/or computer systems to perform operations comprising one or moreaspects of the above- and/or below-described implementations (includingone or more aspects of the appended claims).

In various implementations, computer-implemented methods are disclosedin which, by one or more processors executing program instructions, oneor more aspects of the above- and/or below-described implementations(including one or more aspects of the appended claims) are implementedand/or performed.

In various implementations, computer program products comprising acomputer readable storage medium are disclosed, wherein the computerreadable storage medium has program instructions embodied therewith, theprogram instructions executable by one or more processors to cause theone or more processors to perform operations comprising one or moreaspects of the above- and/or below-described implementations (includingone or more aspects of the appended claims).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of an example operating environmentin which one or more aspects of the present disclosure may operate,according to various implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram including an example implementationof a data analysis system, according to various implementations of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 1C-1F are flowcharts illustrating example methods andfunctionality, according to various implementations of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example interactive graphical user interface,according to various implementations of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate example interactive graphical user interfaces,according to various implementations of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate example interactive graphical user interfaces,according to various implementations of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate example interactive graphical user interfaces,according to various implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a computer system by which certain aspects of thepresent disclosure may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

A data system (for convenience, herein referred to as a “master datasystem” or a “source data system”) may include multiple types of data,spread across numerous data stores and/or databases, each of which maycomprise data in different formats. Some of that data may include datarelated to time-sensitive scheduling of a large number of items. Some ofthat data may include various metrics related to the items and/or thescheduling. For various reasons, it may be desirable or needed to modifythe schedule of the items. Various options for rescheduling of the itemsmay have various effects, positive or negative, across the variousmetrics. However, due to the disparate data stores, databases, andformats, the master data system may not be capable of enabling aholistic evaluation of the effects of various rescheduling options.Additionally, even if the relevant data could be combined and evaluated,the large number of variables, and the variables' effects on oneanother, can create an exponentially complicated problem when evaluatingrescheduling options. Accordingly, it may be technically unfeasible toenable useful or efficient rescheduling of items using the master datasystem.

A “data analysis system” is provided that receives data from the masterdata system to enable useful and efficient rescheduling of items, takinginto account effects of various rescheduling options on various metricsrelated to the items and/or the scheduling. Data of two general typesare received by the data analysis system and from the master datasystem: time-sensitive data (e.g., schedule data), and other data (e.g.,various types of metric data). As compared to the other data, thetime-sensitive data may be received more frequently, and may beprocessed more frequently, by the data analysis system, to provide moreefficient use of resources and more sensitive up-to-date information formanaging rescheduling. Other data may be received and processedrelatively less frequently, as slightly less up-to-date, e.g., metricdata may have a relatively smaller impact on rescheduling evaluation(e.g., as compared to the effect slightly less up-to-date schedulingdata may have).

The data analysis system includes sophisticated data analysis andinteractive graphical user interface functionality to enable efficient,multi-variable evaluation of various rescheduling options. Theinteractive graphical user interface may include functionality forselecting a subset of the items, selecting a relevant time frame forrescheduling evaluation of the subset of items, and selecting a primarymetric evaluating the rescheduling options. The interactive graphicaluser interface may generally include three additional portions: a firstportion with a plurality of timelines each associated with a differentone of the subset of items, and with indications of instances of theprimary metric located relative to the timelines; a second portion withcalculated metric information associated with a selected part of atimeline or a selected indication of an instance of the primary metric;and a third portion with a log of scheduling changes, and a summary ofthe effects of the scheduling changes on various metrics. Theinteractive graphical user interface includes interactive functionalityfor suggesting rescheduling options in view of the effects of thosechanges on various metrics, evaluating various rescheduling options inview of effects on the various metrics, adjusting instances of metricsrelated to items/timelines in view of scheduling changes, and the like.

Once a set of schedule modifications are determined by the data analysissystem, the data analysis system can push the schedule modificationsback to the master data system for implementation. Accordingly, the dataanalysis system can enable efficient solutions to the complex problem ofrescheduling of items, taking into account various metrics, and usingdata from potentially disparate data sources.

II. Terms

In order to facilitate an understanding of the systems and methodsdiscussed herein, a number of terms are defined below. The terms definedbelow, as well as other terms used herein, should be construed toinclude the provided definitions, the ordinary and customary meaning ofthe terms, and/or any other implied meaning for the respective terms.Thus, the definitions below do not limit the meaning of these terms, butonly provide exemplary definitions.

User Input (also referred to as “Input”): Any interaction, data,indication, etc., received by a system/device from a user, arepresentative of a user, an entity associated with a user, and/or anyother entity. Inputs may include any interactions that are intended tobe received and/or stored by the system/device; to cause thesystem/device to access and/or store data items; to cause the system toanalyze, integrate, and/or otherwise use data items; to cause the systemto update to data that is displayed; to cause the system to update a waythat data is displayed; and/or the like. Non-limiting examples of userinputs include keyboard inputs, mouse inputs, digital pen inputs, voiceinputs, finger touch inputs (e.g., via touch sensitive display), gestureinputs (e.g., hand movements, finger movements, arm movements, movementsof any other appendage, and/or body movements), and/or the like.Additionally, user inputs to the system may include inputs via toolsand/or other objects manipulated by the user. For example, the user maymove an object, such as a tool, stylus, or wand, to provide inputs.Further, user inputs may include motion, position, rotation, angle,alignment, orientation, configuration (e.g., fist, hand flat, one fingerextended, etc.), and/or the like. For example, user inputs may comprisea position, orientation, and/or motion of a hand or other appendage, abody, a 3D mouse, and/or the like.

Data Store: Any computer readable storage medium and/or device (orcollection of data storage mediums and/or devices). Examples of datastores include, but are not limited to, optical disks (e.g., CD-ROM,DVD-ROM, etc.), magnetic disks (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, etc.),memory circuits (e.g., solid state drives, random-access memory (RAM),etc.), and/or the like. Another example of a data store is a hostedstorage environment that includes a collection of physical data storagedevices that may be remotely accessible and may be rapidly provisionedas needed (commonly referred to as “cloud” storage).

Database: Any data structure (and/or combinations of multiple datastructures) for storing and/or organizing data, including, but notlimited to, relational databases (e.g., Oracle databases, PostgreSQLdatabases, etc.), non-relational databases (e.g., NoSQL databases,etc.), in-memory databases, spreadsheets, comma separated values (CSV)files, eXtendible markup language (XML) files, TeXT (TXT) files, flatfiles, spreadsheet files, and/or any other widely used or proprietaryformat for data storage. Databases are typically stored in one or moredata stores. Accordingly, each database referred to herein (e.g., in thedescription herein and/or the figures of the present application) is tobe understood as being stored in one or more data stores. Additionally,although the present disclosure may show or describe data as beingstored in combined or separate databases, in various embodiments suchdata may be combined and/or separated in any appropriate way into one ormore databases, one or more tables of one or more databases, etc. Asused herein, a data source may refer to a table in a relationaldatabase, for example.

Item: As used in relation to data item analysis, scheduling, and otheraspects of the present disclosure, in addition to its ordinary andcustomary meaning, the term “item” includes all types of physical and/ornon-physical items that may be scheduled, routed, and/or the like.Examples of items, which may or may not be applicable in variousimplementations of the present disclosure, include trucks, automobiles,airplanes, trains, construction equipment, raw materials, parts, goods,manufactured objects, and/or the like. “Items” may also be referred toherein as “physical items”, “physical objects”, and/or the like.

Metric: As used in relation to data item analysis, items, scheduling,and other aspects of the present disclosure, in addition to its ordinaryand customary meaning, the term “metric” includes all types of events,properties, metadata, and/or other related data and information.Examples of metrics, which may or may not be applicable in variousimplementations of the present disclosure, include maintenance events,passenger or goods connections, movement restrictions, driver or crewassignments, passenger or goods seats or locations, delays, costs,and/or the like.

III. Example Operating Environment

FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of an example operating environment100 in which one or more aspects of the present disclosure may operate,according to various implementations of the present disclosure. Theoperating environment 100 may include a master data system 102, one ormore user devices 104, and a data analysis system 108. The variousdevices may communicate with one another via, e.g., a communicationsnetwork 106, as illustrated.

In general, the master data system 102 (also referred to herein as a“source data system”) may comprise a computing system, including aplurality of data stores, databases, memories, processors, networkinterfaces, and the like, by which scheduling of a large number of itemsis managed. The master data system 102 may gather data, from multipledata sources, related to items and metrics associated with those items,and may provide means for scheduling the items. The master data system102 may further communicate the schedules to other computer systems soas to implement the scheduling.

For example, in an implementation the master data system 102 may gatherdata related to scheduling of trucks (e.g., “items”) that are taskedwith transporting goods across a large geographical area. The trucks mayeach move goods from one depot to another, along a route with multiplestops, loading and unloading goods along the way. Scheduling of thetrucks may include determining routes, including starting and endingdepots, for each of the trucks. Scheduling of the trucks may furtherinclude receiving and/or determining various metrics related to thescheduling, such as tracking and/or planning for maintenance of thetrucks, and ensuring that the trucks arrive at depots where particularmaintenance tasks may be performed, within certain timeframes. The truckschedule information may be communicated to other computer systems,e.g., computers in local offices, smartphone of drivers or personnel,and/or the like, to allow for implementation of the schedules.

In general, the data of the master data system 102 may be categorizedinto two groups: time-sensitive data 110 and other data 112.Time-sensitive data 110 generally includes schedule data, but mayinclude any other data that is important for creating or updating aschedule of items. For example, continuing the truck scheduling example,information regarding the current schedule of the trucks, and anychanges made to that schedule, may be time-sensitive data because acreated or updated schedule may be invalid if very up-to-date data isnot in the system. Other data 112 may include any data that is nottime-sensitive data, and may include, for example, various types ofmetric data. Accordingly, the time-sensitive data 110 may generally bemore time-sensitive, relative to the other data 112, for schedulingpurposes.

In another example, the master data system 102 may gather data relatedto scheduling of goods or parts (e.g., “items”) themselves, whichscheduling may have various characteristics similar to those of theexample of scheduling trucks described above.

For various reasons, it may be desirable or needed to modify a scheduleof the items in the master data system 102. For example, continuing thetruck scheduling example, if a truck breaks down or requires unexpectedmaintenance or a driver change, the schedule may need to be modified toreassign trucks among various routes. Similar, in the goods/partsexample, due to various changes to demand or manufacturing requirements,the schedule may need to be modified to reassign goods or parts amongvarious routes or destinations. In general, modification of a schedulemay create various disruptions and/or affect various metrics associatedwith the schedule and the items. Thus, it may be advantageous to modifythe schedule so as to optimize for, or at least effectively account forthe effect on, certain metrics. The master data system 102 may notprovide capabilities to perform such re-scheduling. Accordingly, datamay be communicated to data analysis system 108, and the data analysissystem 108 may provide such capabilities.

In particular, in an implementation the time-sensitive data 110 and theother data 112 may each be communicated from the master data system 102(i.e., from the source data system) to the data analysis system 108 vianetwork 106, where the data may be processed and analyzed as furtherdescribed herein to generate updated schedules. The time-sensitive data110 and the other data 112 may be communicated to the data analysissystem 108 periodically, intermittently, according to a schedule, ondemand, as data is updated/changed, and/or according to any othersuitable scheme or combination of the foregoing. As indicated in FIG.1A, the time-sensitive data 110 and the other data 112 may be separatelycommunicated to the data analysis system 108 (e.g., via routes 114 and118). For example, the time-sensitive data 110 may be communicated tothe data analysis system 108 more frequently than the other data 112.Separate communications may advantageously enable the data analysissystem 108 to more efficiently receive, and/or to prioritize receipt ofand/or processing of, information that is most time-sensitive forcreating/updating a schedule. In some implementations, time-sensitivedata 110 may be updated and/or communicated to the data analysis system108 on the order of milliseconds, second, or minutes, while the otherdata 112 may be updated and/or communicated to the data analysis system108 on the order of seconds, minutes, tens of minutes, or hours.Differing communications schedules may apply to different types of theother data 112.

The data analysis system 108 may communicate (e.g., via route 120) withvarious user device(s) 104, via network 106, to provide variousinteractive graphical user interfaces for updating schedules of items,and described herein in detail. In some implementations, the featuresand services provided by the data analysis system 108 may be implementedas web services consumable via the network 106. In furtherimplementations, the data analysis system 108 is provided by one or morevirtual machines implemented in a hosted computing environment, asfurther described below. The hosted computing environment may includeone or more rapidly provisioned and released computing resources, whichcomputing resources may include computing, networking and/or storagedevices.

Generated and/or updated schedules, and/or changes/modifications to theschedule (e.g., data comprising updates or changes to the schedulepreviously communicated to the data analysis system 108), arecommunicated from the data analysis system 108 back to the master datasystem 102 (i.e., the source data system), via the network 106 (e.g.,via route 116). The schedule modifications received by the master datasystem 102 may then be implemented by the master data system 102 asdescribed above.

Various example user devices 104 are shown in FIG. 1A, including adesktop computer, a laptop, and a mobile phone, each provided by way ofillustration. In general, the user devices 104 can be any computingdevice such as a desktop, laptop or tablet computer, personal computer,tablet computer, wearable computer, server, personal digital assistant(PDA), hybrid PDA/mobile phone, mobile phone, smartphone, set top box,voice command device, digital media player, and the like. A user device104 may execute an application (e.g., a browser, a stand-aloneapplication, etc.) that allows a user to access and interact withinteractive graphical user interfaces as described herein.

The network 106 may include any wired network, wireless network, orcombination thereof. For example, the network 106 may be a personal areanetwork, local area network, wide area network, over-the-air broadcastnetwork (e.g., for radio or television), cable network, satellitenetwork, cellular telephone network, or combination thereof. As afurther example, the network 106 may be a publicly accessible network oflinked networks, possibly operated by various distinct parties, such asthe Internet. In some implementations, the network 106 may be a privateor semi-private network, such as a corporate or university intranet. Thenetwork 106 may include one or more wireless networks, such as a GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, a Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA) network, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, or any othertype of wireless network. The network 106 can use protocols andcomponents for communicating via the Internet or any of the otheraforementioned types of networks. For example, the protocols used by thenetwork 106 may include Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HTTP Secure(HTTPS), Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT), ConstrainedApplication Protocol (CoAP), and the like. Protocols and components forcommunicating via the Internet or any of the other aforementioned typesof communication networks are well known to those skilled in the artand, thus, are not described in more detail herein.

Further details and examples regarding the implementations, operation,and functionality, including various interactive graphical userinterfaces, of the various components of the example operatingenvironment 100 are described herein in reference to various figures.

IV. Example Data Analysis System

FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram including an example implementationof the data analysis system 108, according to various implementations ofthe present disclosure. In particular, the data analysis system 108 canbe used in the example operating environment 100 described above withrespect to FIG. 1A.

The example data analysis system 108 includes one or more applications124, one or more services 126, one or more initial datasets 128, and oneor more data transformation process(es)/pipline(s) 130. The example dataanalysis system 108 may also include one or more databases 122, which invarious implementations may be internal, or external, to the dataanalysis system 108. In various implementations, database(s) 108 maystore the datasets 128, modifications of the datasets 128, dataprocessed by the data analysis system 108, and/or any other data orinformation as needed for providing the functionality of the dataanalysis system 108 as described herein.

The data analysis system 108 can receive data, e.g., the time-sensitivedata 110 and the other data 112, transform, cleanse, standardize, and/orotherwise process the data, store the processed data, and optionallyrecord the data processing/transformations. The one or more applications124 can include applications that enable users to view datasets,interact with datasets, filter data sets, and/or configure datasettransformation processes. For example, the data analysis system 108 mayprovide various interactive graphical user interfaces for generating andupdating schedules of items, as further described in detail herein. Theone or more services 126 can include services that can trigger the datarequests, data transformations, and/or processing, and/or API servicesfor receiving and transmitting data. The one or more initial datasets128 can be automatically retrieved from external sources (e.g.,time-sensitive data 110 and other data 112) and/or can be manuallyimported by a user. The one or more initial datasets 128 can be in manydifferent formats such as a tabular data format (SQL, delimited, or aspreadsheet data format), a data log format, time series data and/or thelike.

The data analysis system 108, via the one or more services 126, canapply the data transformation processes 130, e.g., to combine data,clean data, modify data, and/or convert the formats of the data to acommon format, or into formats that are useable by the data analysissystem 108. An example data transformation process 130 is shown. Thedata analysis system 108 can receive one or more initial datasets 132,134. The data analysis system 108 can apply a transformation to thedataset(s). For example, the data analysis system 108 can apply a firsttransformation 136 to the initial datasets 132, 134, which can includejoining the initial datasets 132, 134 (such as or similar to a SQLJOIN), format converting the initial datasets 132, 134, and/or afiltering of the initial datasets 132, 134. The output of the firsttransformation 136 can include a modified dataset 138. A secondtransformation of the modified dataset 138 can result in an outputdataset 140, such as a joined table in a tabular data format that can bestored in the database 122. Each of the steps in the example datatransformation process 130 can be recorded by the data analysis system108 and made available as a resource for further use in the dataanalysis system 108. For example, a resource can include a datasetand/or a dataset item, a transformation, or any other step in a datatransformation process. As mentioned above, the data transformationprocesses 130 can be triggered by the data analysis system 108, whereexample triggers can include a periodic or intermittent schedule,detected events, manual triggers by a user, and/or the like.

A build service can manage transformations which are executed in thesystem to transform data. The build service may leverage a directedacyclic graph data (DAG) structure to ensure that transformations areexecuted in proper dependency order. The graph can include a noderepresenting an output dataset to be computed based on one or more inputdatasets each represented by a node in the graph with a directed edgebetween node(s) representing the input dataset(s) and the noderepresenting the output dataset. The build service traverses the DAG indataset dependency order so that the most upstream dependent datasetsare computed first. The build service traverses the DAG from the mostupstream dependent datasets toward the node representing the outputdataset rebuilding datasets as necessary so that they are up-to-date.Finally, the target output dataset is built once all of the dependentdatasets are up-to-date.

The data analysis system 108 can support branching for both data andcode. Build branches allow the same transformation code to be executedon multiple branches. For example, transformation code on the masterbranch can be executed to produce a dataset on the master branch or onanother branch (e.g., the develop branch). Build branches also allowtransformation code on a branch to be executed to produce datasets onthat branch. For example, transformation code on a development branchcan be executed to produce a dataset that is available only on thedevelopment branch. Build branches provide isolation of re-computationof graph data across different users and across different executionschedules of a data pipeline. To support branching, the catalog maystore information represents a graph of dependencies as opposed to alinear dependency sequence.

The data analysis system 108 may enable other data transformationsystems to perform transformations. For example, suppose the systemstores two “raw” datasets R1 and R2 that are both updated periodically.Each update creates a new version of the dataset and corresponds to adifferent transaction. The datasets are deemed raw in the sense thattransformation code may not be executed by the data analysis system 108to produce the datasets. Further suppose there is a transformation Athat computes a join between datasets R1 and R2. The join may beperformed in a data transformation system such as SQL database system,for example. More generally, the techniques described herein areagnostic to the particular data transformation engine that is used. Thedata to be transformed and the transformation code to transform the datacan be provided to the engine based on information stored in the catalogincluding where to store the output data.

According to some implementations, the build service supports a pushbuild. In a push build, rebuilds of all datasets that depend on anupstream dataset or an upstream transformation that has been updated areautomatically determined based on information in the catalog andrebuilt. In this case, the build service may accept a target dataset ora target transformation as an input parameter to a push build command.The build service then determines all downstream datasets that need tobe rebuilt, if any.

As an example, if the build service receives a push build command withdataset R1 as the target, then the build service would determine alldownstream datasets that are not up-to-date with respect to dataset R1and rebuild them. For example, if dataset D1 is out-of-date with respectto dataset R1, then dataset D1 is rebuilt based on the current versionsof datasets R1 and R2 and the current version of transformation A. Ifdataset D1 is rebuilt because it is out-of-date, then dataset D2 will berebuilt based on the up-to-date version of dataset D1 and the currentversion of transformation B and so on until all downstream dataset ofthe target dataset are rebuilt. The build service may perform similarrebuilding if the target of the push build command is a transformation.

The build service may also support triggers. In this case, a push buildmay be considered a special case of a trigger. A trigger, generally, isa rebuild action that is performed by the build service that istriggered by the creation of a new version of a dataset or a new versionof a transformation in the system.

In general, data is received by the data analysis system 108, from themaster data system 102, processed and/or transformed so as to be useablein the generating and/or updating of schedules, stored by the dataanalysis system 108 (e.g., in database(s) 122), and then used in thegeneration of interactive graphical user interfaces as described herein.Once an updated schedule is determined, data indicating the scheduleupdates is communicated back to the master data system 102.

Further details regarding the implementation of data analysis system 108are described below in reference to FIG. 6.

In an implementation the data analysis system 108 (or one or moreaspects of the data analysis system 108) may comprise, or be implementedin, a “virtual computing environment”. As used herein, the term “virtualcomputing environment” should be construed broadly to include, forexample, computer readable program instructions executed by one or moreprocessors (e.g., as described below in the example of FIG. 6) toimplement one or more aspects of the modules and/or functionalitydescribed herein. Further, in this implementation, one or moremodules/engines/etc. (e.g., applications 124, services 126, and/or thelike) of the data analysis system 108 may be understood as comprisingone or more rules engines of the virtual computing environment that, inresponse to inputs received by the virtual computing environment,execute rules and/or other program instructions to modify operation ofthe virtual computing environment. For example, a request received fromuser device(s) 104 may be understood as modifying operation of thevirtual computing environment to cause the system to gather dataassociated with the request, generate and/or update one or moreinteractive graphical user interfaces, and/or communication data back tothe master data system 102. Such functionality may comprise amodification of the operation of the virtual computing environment inresponse to inputs and according to various rules. Other functionalityimplemented by the virtual computing environment (as describedthroughout this disclosure) may further comprise modifications of theoperation of the virtual computing environment. Initial operation of thevirtual computing environment may be understood as an establishment ofthe virtual computing environment. In some implementations the virtualcomputing environment may comprise one or more virtual machines,containers, and/or other types of emulations of computing systems orenvironments. In some implementations the virtual computing environmentmay comprise a hosted computing environment that includes a collectionof physical computing resources that may be remotely accessible and maybe rapidly provisioned as needed (commonly referred to as “cloud”computing environment).

Implementing one or more aspects of the data analysis system 108 as avirtual computing environment may advantageously enable executingdifferent aspects or modules of the system on different computingdevices or processors, which may increase the scalability of the system.Implementing one or more aspects of the data analysis system 108 as avirtual computing environment may further advantageously enablesandboxing various aspects, data, or modules of the system from oneanother, which may increase security of the system by preventing, e.g.,malicious intrusion into the system from spreading. Implementing one ormore aspects of the data analysis system 108 as a virtual computingenvironment may further advantageously enable parallel execution ofvarious aspects or modules of the system, which may increase thescalability of the system. Implementing one or more aspects of the dataanalysis system 108 as a virtual computing environment may furtheradvantageously enable rapid provisioning (or de-provisioning) ofcomputing resources to the system, which may increase scalability of thesystem by, e.g., expanding computing resources available to the systemor duplicating operation of the system on multiple computing resources.For example, the system may be used by thousands, hundreds of thousands,or even millions of users simultaneously, and many megabytes, gigabytes,or terabytes (or more) of data may be transferred or processed by thesystem, and scalability of the system may enable such operation in anefficient and/or uninterrupted manner.

V. Example Methods and Functionality of the Data Analysis System

FIGS. 1C-1F are flowcharts illustrating example methods andfunctionality of the data analysis system 108, according to variousimplementations of the present disclosure. In various implementations,and as described below, various blocks of the methods described belowmay be optional, and/or the blocks may occur in different orders.

FIG. 1C is a flowchart illustrating an example method of the dataanalysis system 108 related to receipt of data, generation/updating ofinteractive graphical user interfaces, and communication of scheduleupdate data to the master data system 102.

At block 152, the data analysis system 108 receives a first set of datafrom the master data system 102. The first set of data may include, asdescribed above, time-sensitive data 110, which generally includesschedule data, but may include any other data that is important forcreating or updating a schedule of items.

At block 154, the data analysis system 108 receives a second set of datafrom the master data system 102. The second set of data may include, asdescribed above, other data 112, which generally includes any data thatis not time-sensitive data, and may include, for example, various typesof metric data. Accordingly, the time-sensitive data 110 may generallybe more time-sensitive, relative to the other data 112, for schedulingpurposes.

The first set of data (e.g., time-sensitive data 110) and the second setof data (e.g., other data 112) may be communicated to the data analysissystem 108 periodically, intermittently, according to a schedule, ondemand, as data is updated/changed, and/or according to any othersuitable scheme or combination of the foregoing. As indicated in FIG.1A, the time-sensitive data 110 and the other data 112 may be separatelycommunicated to the data analysis system 108, and may be communicatedwith different update frequencies. In particular, the first set of datamay be received by the data analysis system 108 at a first updatefrequency, while the second set of data may be received by the dataanalysis system 108 at a second update frequency. Separatecommunications and update frequencies may advantageously enable the dataanalysis system 108 to more efficiently receive, and/or to prioritizereceipt of and/or processing of, information that is most time-sensitivefor creating/updating a schedule. In some implementations,time-sensitive data 110 may be updated and/or communicated to the dataanalysis system 108 on the order of milliseconds, second, or minutes,while the other data 112 may be updated and/or communicated to the dataanalysis system 108 on the order of seconds, minutes, tens of minutes,or hours. Differing communications schedules may apply to differenttypes of the other data 112.

At block 156, the data analysis system 108 may generate and/or update aninteractive graphical user interface based on the received data. (Asdescribed here, the data analysis system 108 may generate data useablefor rendering such an interactive graphical user interface, whichinteractive graphical user interface may then be rendered by userdevice(s) 104. However, for simplicity and clarity of explanation, thepresent disclosure describes the data analysis system 108 asgenerating/updating the interactive graphical user interface.) Theinteractive graphical user interface may include various aspects andfunctionality, each of which are described in detail below in referenceto various figures. The interactive graphical user interface may includeat least a schedule of a set of items.

As indicated by arrow 158, the interactive graphical user interface maybe updated based on receipt of additional data by the data analysissystem 108. In particular, the interactive graphical user interface maybe automatically updated, even while the interactive graphical userinterface is in use by a user, to reflect updated time-sensitive data,such as schedule data. For example, as described below, the interactivegraphical user interface may include a plurality of timelines based onthe schedule data, which timelines may automatically be updated based onreceipt of schedule data from the master data system 102. Accordingly, auser of the data analysis system 108 may be always working withup-to-date information when determining schedule modifications.Similarly, the interactive graphical user interface may be updatedautomatically based on receipt of other data, such as metric data.

In various implementations, the data analysis system 108 may pull datafrom the master data system 102, and master data system 102 may pushdata to the data analysis system 108, and/or any combination of theforgoing (e.g., for different types of data, and/or data from differentsystems).

The interactive graphical user interface may include functionality forselecting a set (or a subset) of the items, selecting a relevant timeframe for rescheduling evaluation of the set/subset of items, andselecting a primary metric evaluating rescheduling options. Theseaspects of the interactive graphical user interface are generallydescribed in reference to FIGS. 1D and 2 below. The interactivegraphical user interface may generally include three additionalportions: a first portion with a plurality of timelines each associatedwith a different one of the set/subset of items, and with indications ofinstances of the primary metric located relative to the timelines (theseaspects of the interactive graphical user interface are generallydescribed in reference to FIGS. 1D and 3A-3C below); a second portionwith calculated metric information associated with a selected part of atimeline or a selected indication of an instance of the primary metric(these aspects of the interactive graphical user interface are generallydescribed in reference to FIGS. 1E and 4A-4C below); and a third portionwith a log of scheduling changes, and a summary of the effects of thescheduling changes on various metrics (these aspects of the interactivegraphical user interface are generally described in reference to FIGS.1F and 5A-5B below). The interactive graphical user interface includesinteractive functionality for suggesting rescheduling options in view ofthe effects of those changes on various metrics, evaluating variousrescheduling options in view of effects on the various metrics,adjusting instances of metrics related to items/timelines in view ofscheduling changes, and the like.

At block 160, the data analysis system 108 may determine modificationsto the schedule of the set/subset of items. Such modifications may bedetermined, for example, in response to various user inputs. Forexample, a user may indicate selection of a schedule change option, asdescribed below. In another example, the system may determine one ormore possible schedule change options, as described below. In anotherexample, a user may indicate a change to a metric associated with theschedule of the set/subset of items. Other examples are described below.

At block 162, the data analysis system 108 may update the interactivegraphical user interface based on the determined modifications, e.g., toshow the one or more possible change options, a change in the scheduleof the set/subset of items based on selection of a schedule changeoption, a change in a metric or instance of a metric based on a userinput, and/or the like.

At block 164, the data analysis system 108 may generate schedule updatedata, e.g., based on user inputs indicating changes to the schedule ofthe set/subset of items, changes to metrics, and/or the like. Suchschedule update data may include, for example, a listing of changes tothe schedule data, such as reassignment of items from one series ofevents or locations to another, or reassignment of metrics to items,and/or the like.

At block 166, the data analysis system 108 communicates the scheduleupdate data to the master data system 102, where the updates may beimplemented by the master data system 102. Such communication may beinitiated by an input provided by a user (e.g., the user indicating anacceptance of proposed schedule changes). Accordingly, the data analysissystem can enable efficient solutions to the complex problem ofrescheduling of items, taking into account various metrics, and usingdata from potentially disparate data sources.

FIG. 1D is a flowchart illustrating an example method of the dataanalysis system 108 related to functionality of a first portion of theinteractive graphical user interface (generally referred to herein as“the first user interface portion”, the functionality of which isfurther generally described in reference to FIGS. 3A-3C below). Ingeneral, as further described below in reference to FIG. 2, a user mayinteract with the interactive graphical user interface to select asubset of items, select a relevant time frame for reschedulingevaluation of the subset of items, and select a primary metricevaluating rescheduling options.

At block 170, the data analysis system 108 generates/updates the firstuser interface portion to include at least a plurality of timelines. Thetimelines are generated based on a subset of the schedule dataassociated with each of the items of the subset of items. In general,each item of the subset of items is represented by a timeline in thefirst user interface portion, and each timelines includes sequentialindications of events and locations associated with the respectiveitems. Thus, for example, a timeline associated with an item mayindicate a first location of the item for a period of time, followed bymovement of the items from the first location to a second location for asecond period of time, followed by the second location of the item for athird period of time, and so on.

At block 171, the data analysis system 108 further includes, in thefirst user interface portion, indications of instances of theselected/primary metric, where the indications of the metric arespatially located in the first user interface portion adjacent torelated parts of the timelines. Thus, for example, when the selectedmetric comprises “maintenance events”, various indications of scheduledor needed maintenance events associated with an item may be providedadjacent to the timeline for the item, in locations corresponding totimes for the respective scheduled or needed maintenance events. Suchindications may comprise icons, lines, dots, and/or the like. Suchindications may further span a portion of the timeline so as toindicate, e.g., an expected time associated with the metric (e.g., atime to complete a maintenance event).

At block 172, the data analysis system 108 receives a first user inputselecting a part of a timeline. For example, the user may select a partof a timeline representing a movement of an item during a period oftime. In response, at block 173, the data analysis system 108 determinesany possible schedule change options associated with the selected partof the timeline, and updates the first user interface portion toindicate the possible schedule change options. Such indications may beprovided, for example, by highlighting, coloring, bolding, providingcontrasting lighting or coloring, and/or the like.

For example, the data analysis system 108 may determine, for aparticular selected movement of a first item during a first period oftime, that a second item shown in the first user interface portion maybe changed or swapped with the first item, thereby effectively changingor swapping the schedules assigned to the first and second items. Such aschedule change may be an option because, for example, the first andsecond items may be in a same location prior to the selected movement,and may thereby change or swap schedules at that location. Such schedulechange options need not overlap in time. Rather, in the example ofphysical items, the schedule change options may only need to overlap inlocation prior to the selected movement (e.g., such that the two itemsare physically located in the same place so as to change or swapschedules).

At block 174, the data analysis system 108 may receive a second userinput selecting one of the schedule change options. Such a user inputmay comprise a drag-and-drop of the selected part of the timeline to oneof the (e.g., highlighted) schedule change options shown in the firstuser interface portion, or other suitable user interface interaction bythe user indicating the selection.

At block 175, in response to the user selection of the change option,the data analysis system 108 may determine modifications to theschedules of the two affected items (e.g., to effectuate the schedulechange), update the related timelines in the first user interfaceportion (and other related user interface portions), determine effectsof the modifications to the schedules on the metrics, and update theindications of instances of the metrics in the first user interfaceportion (and other related user interface portions).

For example, the schedules of the two items subsequent to the selectedparts of the timelines (e.g., the parts associated with the selectedschedule change option) may be changed or swapped in the timelines.Further, such a change may have an effect on any instances of metricsassociated with the items. For example, if a maintenance event isscheduled for an item at a particular location at a particular time, aschedule change may cause that item to not be at that particularlocation at that particular time. Such effects of the schedule change onmetrics are automatically determined by the system, and indicated in theinteractive graphical user interface. For example, in the example of amaintenance event (or other instance of an other selected metric) thatis affect by a schedule change, the first user interface portion may beupdated to visually indicate that the maintenance event no longer fitsin the schedule (e.g., is no longer associated with a part of atimeline). Such an visual indication of a change may be provided by achange to the icons, lines, dots, and/or the like that represent theinstances of the metrics. For example, in an implementation a lineindication may change to a dot indication, while remaining adjacent tothe timeline of the associated item.

As described below, the timelines in the first user interface portionmay comprise groupings of timelines, where the timelines may be grouped,for example, based on “pinned” items (e.g., user-selected items to focuson), items resulting from search queries, all items of a subset or setof items, or the like. Such groupings may be sortable, filterable,modifiable, removable, etc.

FIG. 1E is a flowchart illustrating an example method of the dataanalysis system 108 related to functionality of a second portion of theinteractive graphical user interface (generally referred to herein as“the second user interface portion”, the functionality of which isfurther generally described in reference to FIGS. 4A-4C below).

At block 180, the data analysis system 108 receives a user input, e.g.,via the first user interface portion, selecting a part of a timeline(e.g., a location, a movement, etc.) or selecting an indication of aninstance of a (e.g., selected/primary) metric. In response, the dataanalysis system 108, at block 182, determines information associatedwith the selected part of a timeline or selected indication of aninstance of a metric, and at block 185, generates/updates the seconduser interface portion to display the determined information.

Accordingly, at block 182, the data analysis system 108 accesses,calculates and/or otherwise determines metric information associatedwith the selected part of a timeline or selected indication of aninstance of a metric.

In the example of a selected movement (e.g., a part of a timeline) thedetermined metric information may include, e.g., revenue associated withthe movement, delays associated with the movement, delay cost estimatesassociated with the movement, connections associated with the movement,and/or the like. As indicated by block 183, the second user interfaceportion may also include a listing of possible schedule change optionsassociated with the movement (which may be determined by the dataanalysis system 108, as described above), and for each of the schedulechange options, calculated metrics associated with each. In the exampleof a selected location (e.g., a part of a timeline), the determinedmetric information may include, e.g., maintenance events associated withthe location, utilization information associated with the location,and/or the like.

Determined metric information associated with the possible schedulechange options may be visualized in the interactive graphical userinterface as one or more colored shapes or icons, overlaid on which maybe numerical indicators. For example, each metric may be represented byone or more colored squares, where a first colored square is red toindicate an unresolvable negative impact on the metric, a second coloredsquare is orange to indicate a resolvable negative impact on the metric,and a third colored square is green to indicate no impact on the metric.(Of course, in various implementations, other suitable colors or shapesmay be used.) Further, numerical indicators may be overlaid on eachsquare, providing a quantification of the impact on the metric. Forexample, in the example of the metrics being “maintenance events” and“connections” (e.g., passenger or cargo connections to subsequentmovements), for a given schedule change option, the second userinterface portion may indicate via the colored shapes, for each of themetrics, effects of the schedule change on the metrics (e.g., number ofconnections that will be unresolvable missed (e.g., due to delays);number of connections that may be missed, but can be resolved (e.g., butrescheduling cargo, passengers, etc.); and number of connection thatwill not be affected). In some implementations, all three squares/shapesmay be displayed for each metric. In other implementations, onlysquares/shapes that show effects (e.g., that would have a numericalindicator other than 0) may be displayed for each metric. In variousimplementations, the squares/shapes/icon may or may not be colored. Inan example, “unresolvable” negative impact means an impact on a metricthat cannot be fixed/resolved/mitigated by making further scheduleadjustments based on information currently available to the dataanalysis system 108 and/or based on information associated withcurrently displayed items (e.g., the selected subset of items), while“resolvable” negative impact means an impact on a metric that can befixed/resolved/mitigated by making further schedule adjustments.

In the example of a selected indication of an instance of a metric, thedetermined metric information may include, e.g., a status of the metric,possible re-assignment of the metric to other locations (e.g., in theinstance of a metric, e.g., a maintenance event, that is not associatedwith a part of a timeline), and/or the like. As indicated by block 184,the second user interface portion may also include a listing or graph ofsubsequent parts of a timeline, and their respective suitabilities forassociation with the selected instance of the metric. The suitabilitiesmay be determined by the data analysis system 108 based on (1)historical information regarding whether the subsequent parts of thetimeline (e.g., locations) have performed the metric previously (e.g.,performed a particular maintenance event), (2) whether the subsequentparts of the timeline (e.g., locations) provide enough time to performthe metric (e.g., a particular maintenance event, based on historicalinformation on how long it takes to complete the maintenance event), (3)whether subsequent parts of the timeline (e.g., locations) have capacityto perform the metric (e.g., maintenance event, based on work capacityavailable), (4) whether subsequent parts of the timeline (e.g.,locations) occur soon enough to satisfy a timeframe for completing themetric (e.g., day remaining until a maintenance event needs to beperformed), (5) any combination of the foregoing, and/or the like.

In an implementation, the data analysis system 108 may provide a furtherinteractive graphical user interface in which the user may accesshistorical information associated with parts of timelines (e.g.,locations, movements, etc.), metrics (e.g., maintenance events, and thelocations where those maintenance events have historically beenperformed, etc.), and/or the like.

FIG. 1F is a flowchart illustrating an example method of the dataanalysis system 108 related to functionality of a third portion of theinteractive graphical user interface (generally referred to herein as“the third user interface portion”, the functionality of which isfurther generally described in reference to FIGS. 5A-5B below).

At block 190, the data analysis system 108 accesses, calculates, and/orotherwise determines metric information associated with the schedule ofthe set or subset of items both before and after any modifications tothe schedule (e.g., as selected by the user). The metric information maybe determined across multiple metrics, and may include determined anddisplayed information as generally described above in reference to FIG.1E.

At block 191, the data analysis system 108 generates/updates the thirduser interface portion to display the determined metric information. Thethird user interface portion may further include a log of modificationsto the schedule. The determined metric information may be provided in asummary form, including a table showing, for each item, the effect oneach metric of the schedule modifications. The third user interfaceportion may provide functionality to drill down on any particular metricto view more detail information of the effect for the schedulemodifications.

VI. Example Interactive Graphical User Interfaces

FIG. 2 illustrates an example interactive graphical user interface 200,according to various implementations of the present disclosure. Asdescribed herein, the example interactive graphical user interface 200may be provided via data from the data analysis system 108 that isrendered by a browser of user device(s) 104. Various functionalityrelated to the example interactive graphical user interface 200 is alsodescribed above in reference to FIGS. 1C-1F.

The example interactive graphical user interface 200 may include a firstselection bar 202, a second selection bar 204, a first user interfaceportion 206 (corresponding to the “first user interface portion”generally described above), a second user interface portion 210(corresponding to the “second user interface portion” generallydescribed above), and a third user interface portion 208 (correspondingto the “third user interface portion” generally described above).

Via the first selection bar 202, the user may: via selection boxes 212,select a time period of interest for schedule review (which may includeselection of times and dates, in an implementation); via user interfaceelements 214, undo and redo any modifications to the schedule that aremade, via user interface element 216, add items to the interactivegraphical user interface (e.g., select a subset of items for display inthe plurality of timelines); and via user interface element 218, providea user input to cause communication of the schedule update data (e.g.,including the modification to the schedule) to the master data system102.

The second selection bar 204 includes one or more user interfaceelements 222, each representing a different selectable metric. Viaselection of one or more of the one or more user interface elements 222,the user may indicate one or more selected/primary metric(s) for causingdisplay of corresponding indications of instances of the selectedmetric(s), e.g., in the first user interface portion adjacent to thetimelines. Additionally, next to each of the metric names in the secondselection bar 204, the interactive graphical user interface includesindications of metric information 224, 226, and 228. The indications ofmetric information may include a current status of the metric as relatedto the selected subset of items. The current status of the metrics maybe indicated by one or more colored shapes or icons 224, 226, and 228,which may include numerical overlays, as described above in reference toFIG. 1E. Examples of metrics include, connections, maintenance events,and/or the like. For example, in reference to example interactivegraphical user interface 200, if metric 2 represents “connections”,shape 224 may be colored red and indicate 1 unsolvable missedconnection, shape 226 may be colored orange and indicate 4 possiblyresolvable missed connections, and shape 228 may be colored green andindicate 20 unaffected connections. As mentioned above, in variousimplementations, certain of the colored shapes or icons may not bedisplayed if the numerical indicator would otherwise be 0.

Details and functionality related to the first user interface portion(e.g., a timeline user interface portion) are generally furtherdescribed below in reference to FIGS. 3A-3C. Details and functionalityrelated to the second user interface portion (e.g., a selection userinterface portion) are generally further described below in reference toFIGS. 4A-4C. Details and functionality related to the third userinterface portion (e.g., a change log user interface portion) aregenerally further described below in reference to FIGS. 5A-5B.

In various alternative implementations, the various portions of theexample interactive graphical user interface 200 may be arrangeddifferently. Further in some implementations various portions of theuser interface may not be included, and/or different combinations of theuser interface may be provided. For example, some implementations mayomit the second selection bar 204. In another example, someimplementations may omit one or more of the second selection bar 204,the second user interface portion 210, and/or the third user interfaceportion 208. In yet another example, functionality associated withvarious combinations of the user interface portions of exampleinteractive graphical user interface 200 may be combined.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate example interactive graphical user interfacescorresponding to first user interface portion 206, according to variousimplementations of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the first user interface portion 206 includes atimeline 302 that may correspond to a selected time period selected bythe user, and indicates a time period associated with otheritem-specific timelines in the user interface. The first user interfaceportion 206 further includes one or more groupings of a selected set orsubset of items, where the groupings are separately indicated in theinteractive graphical user interface. In the example first userinterface portion 206, the groupings includes pinned items 304, searchresults 1 items 306, and all group items 308. As described above, eachof the groupings of items may be sorted, filtered, modified, removed,and/or the like, e.g., via user interface elements 314, 316, 318, 320,322, 324, and 326, corresponding to each grouping of items. Further,when necessary, a user may scroll in the interactive graphical userinterface via additional listed items/timelines that may not bedisplayed simultaneously on the display.

Each item in the first user interface portion 206 is separatelyindicated, e.g., items 310 (“Item 1”) and 312 (“Item 2”), and some itemsmay be repeated if the items appear in multiple groupings (e.g., Item 1appearing in “Pinned Items” and in “All Group Items”). The items may beeasily dragged-and-dropped, e.g., via user interface element 328) torearrange the ordering of the items with the groupings, or to move itemsinto or out of various groupings.

Each item in the first user interface portion 206 includes acorresponding timeline, which are generated based on the schedule data.For example, in the example first user interface portion 206 shown inFIG. 3A, “Item 1” includes a timeline with timeline parts 330, 332, 334,336, 338, and 340. In the example, timeline parts 330, 334, and 338correspond to locations, while timeline parts 332, 336, and 340correspond to movements. As a further example, in the example first userinterface portion 206 shown in FIG. 3A, “Item 2” includes a timelinewith timeline parts 344, 346, 348, 350, and 352. In the example,timeline parts 344, 348, and 352 correspond to locations, while timelineparts 346, and 350 correspond to movements

In general, different type of timeline parts may be differently coloredor shaded to provide a visual indication to the user. Further, acrossvarious timelines, related timeline parts (e.g., the same locations) maybe similarly colored or shaded to provide a visual indication to theuser. Accordingly, timeline parts 330 and 344 may be similarly coloredor shaded, and so forth.

The first user interface portion 206 further includes indications ofinstances of a selected/primary metric that may be overlaid or otherwisedisplayed in interactive graphical user interface. In the example firstuser interface portion 206 shown in FIG. 3A, indications of instances ofa selected metric are shown for Item 1 at indication 342, and for Item 2at indication 354. In the example first user interface portion 206 shownin FIG. 3A, indications 342 and 354 are visually presented as lines,indicating that they are associated with parts of the respectivetimelines. Further, they are located adjacent to the respectivetimelines and parts of the timelines, as described above.

As generally described herein, the user may select part of thetimelines, indications of instance of metrics, etc., and generallyinteract with the first user interface portion 206 to determinerescheduling of the items and the effects on metrics.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the first user interface portion 206 is updatedfrom that shown in FIG. 3A in response to a user selection of a timelinepart 362 (corresponding to timeline part 332 shown in FIG. 3A).Accordingly, as described above in reference to FIG. 1D, the dataanalysis system 108 determines schedule change options, and highlightthose determined schedule change options. Thus, in the example of FIG.3B, timeline parts 364 and 366 are highlighted, as these provide optionsfor schedule changes in view of the highlighted movements being precededby the same location (e.g., “LOC 1”).

Referring to FIG. 3C, the first user interface portion 206 is updatedfrom that shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B in response to a user inputindicating a schedule change between example timeline parts 332 and 346(e.g., movement 332 of Item 1 is changed or swapped to Item 2, andmovement 346 is changed or swapped to Item 1, and vice versa). As aresult of the schedule change, the example first user interface portion206 is further updated to indicate effects on instances of metrics. Inparticular, in the example of FIG. 3C, while indication 354 is unchangedas a results of the schedule change, the instance corresponding toindication 342 (of FIG. 3A) is affected, and so the indication ischanged to a dot visualization 372 (in FIG. 3C). Thus, dot visualization372 indicates to the user that an instance of a metric associated withItem 1, which was previously scheduled for the indicated point in timeor a part of the timeline, is no longer associated with the timeline.For example, a maintenance event that we previously schedule to takeplace at LOC2 is no longer possible because, due to the schedulechange/swap/modification, Item 1 will not be in LOC2 at the scheduletime.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate example interactive graphical user interfacescorresponding to second user interface portion 210, according to variousimplementations of the present disclosure. As described above, ingeneral, the second user interface portion 210 displays metricinformation associated with a selected part of a timeline or selectedindication of an instance of a metric.

Referring to FIG. 4A, an example of the second user interface portion210 is shown corresponding to selection of a “movement” part of atimeline (e.g., movement 332 of FIG. 3A). Accordingly, metricinformation associated with movement 332 is shown, including generalinformation 402 (e.g., name, associated item, start location, startday/time, destination location, end/destination day/time, duration,delay, etc.), revenue information 404 (e.g., revenue associated with themovement, estimates costs 406 as a result of any delays, and relatedmetric information 408, 410, 412), and schedule change options 414(including, for each schedule change option, e.g., associated metricinformation of one or more metrics, etc.). For example, the schedulechange options of the example shown in FIG. 4A indicate that changing orswapping with Item 2 may have a negative impact on Metric 2 in that itwill increase the unresolvable issues by 3, it will increase theresolvable issues by 6, and decrease the non-issues (with Metric 2) by9. As another example, the schedule change options of the example shownin FIG. 4A indicate that changing or swapping with Item 3 may create adelay of 24 hours, and have an even greater negative impact on Metric 2.As shown, metric information may be provided by one or more coloredshapes or icons, which may include numerical overlays, as describedelsewhere herein (including all alterative implementations). Via thesecond user interface portion 210, the user may optionally select one ofthe listed schedule change options to cause the corresponding schedulechange to be made (e.g., in the first user interface portion 206).

Referring to FIG. 4B, an example of the second user interface portion210 is shown corresponding to selection of a “location” part of atimeline (e.g., location 334 of FIG. 3A). Accordingly, metricinformation associated with location 334 is shown, including generalinformation 422 (e.g., name, associated item, start day/time, endday/time, duration, delay, etc.), metric information 424 for one or moremetrics (e.g., in the example of FIG. 4B, metrics associated withrelated maintenance events are shown), information 426 associated withthe location (e.g., utilization of the location for certain maintenanceevents or other metrics), and a listing 428 of events (e.g., maintenanceevents) associated with Item 1 that are expected/scheduled to take placeat LOC2. As shown, in listing 428 all events indicate a “days remaining”until the event is needed to take place, and a “categorization”. The“categorization” indicates a status of the scheduled event, and maychange as a result of a schedule change/swap/modification. For example,“unchanged” (or other appropriate indication) may indicate that noschedule changes have affected the scheduled event, “possible” or “needsreview” (or other appropriate indication) may indicate that one or moreschedule changes have affected the scheduled event and that the userneed to review the event and associate it with a part of the timelineagain, if possible, or reschedule the event.

Referring to FIG. 4C, an example of the second user interface portion210 is shown corresponding to selection of an indication of an instanceof a metric (e.g., indication 372 from FIG. 3C). Accordingly, metricinformation associated with indication 372 (in this example, amaintenance event) is shown, including general information 432 (e.g.,name, associated item, status, original location, and scheduled date,etc.), and possible re-assignments of the metric to other locations 434.As the selected instance, in the example of FIG. 4C, is no longerassociated with a part of a timeline as a result of a schedule change,the status of the instance of the metric has been changed from“scheduled” or “unchanged” (or other appropriate indicator) to“possible”. As described above, “possible” indicates that there is arescheduling of the instance/event that is possible based on thedetermination of possible re-assignments of the metric to otherlocations. “Needs review” may indicate that there is no rescheduling ofthe instance/event that is possible based on the determination ofpossible re-assignments of the metric to other locations.

In the possible re-assignments of the metric to other locations 434portion of second user interface portion 210, the second user interfaceportion includes a listing or graph of subsequent parts of a timeline,and their respective suitabilities for association with the selectedinstance of the metric. The suitabilities may be determined by the dataanalysis system 108 based on various factors as described above inreferences to FIG. 1E. Icons 436 and 438 may be colored (e.g., red) orotherwise highlighted to indicate the corresponding locations areunsuitable for the event/instance of the metric, while icon 440 may bedifferently colored (e.g., yellow/orange) or otherwise highlighted toindicate the corresponding location is suitable for the event/instanceof the metric.

Via the second user interface portion 210, the user may reschedule theevent/instance of the metric for a different location.

In an implementation, selection of the metric name in the second userinterface portion 210 (e.g., “Event 1”) may take the user to a furtherinteractive graphical user interface in which the user may accesshistorical information associated with the metric (e.g., maintenanceevents, and the locations where those maintenance events havehistorically been performed, etc.), and/or the like.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate example interactive graphical user interfacescorresponding to third user interface portion 208, according to variousimplementations of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5A, the third user interface portion 208 may include alisting or log 502 of modifications to the schedule (e.g., determined asa result of user inputs selecting schedule change options), and asummary of determined metric information associated with themodifications to the schedule. In particular, the summary of determinedmetric information may include a table 508 showing, for each item, theeffect on each metric of the schedule modifications. The table 508 maybe modifiable via user interface elements 504 to summarize based ondifferent groupings of items. The table 508 may also may be modifiablevia user interface elements 506 to view a summary of metric information(as shown in the example third user interface portion 208 of FIG. 5A) ordrill down on any particular metric to view more detail information ofthe effect for the schedule modification (as shown in the example thirduser interface portion 208 of FIG. 5B).

As shown in the example third user interface portion 208 of FIG. 5A, thetable 508 indicates, for each combination of item and metric, a summaryof calculated metric information in the form of one or more coloredshapes or icons, which may include numerical overlays, as describedelsewhere herein (including all alterative implementations). Inparticular, for each combination of item and metric, if the metric isaffected by the schedule modifications, the summary in the table 508 mayshow the one or more colored shapes/icon before the modification,followed by an arrow, and then followed by the one or more coloredshapes/icon after the modification. If there is no change to the metricas a results of the schedule modifications, only a single set of the oneor more colored shapes/icon may be shown.

Referring to FIG. 5B, the user, via user interface elements 510, hasselected to drill down on Metric 1 (in this example, maintenance tasksor events). Accordingly, at indicator 510 the metric summary is shown,and at table 512 details related to the metric are shown. In particular,affected maintenance tasks are listed, including related information (asgenerally previously described in reference to a similar user interfaceof FIG. 4B).

VII. Additional Implementation Details

In some implementations, an alert and/or notification is automaticallytransmitted by the data analysis system 108 in response to a schedulemodification, a changing of a particular metric, or a metric by aparticular amount, and/or the like. The alert and/or notification can betransmitted at the time that the alert and/or notification is generatedor at some determined time after generation of the alert and/ornotification. When received by a user device, the alert and/ornotification can cause the device to display the alert and/ornotification via the activation of an application on the device (e.g., abrowser, a mobile application, etc.). For example, receipt of the alertand/or notification may automatically activate an application on thedevice, such as a messaging application (e.g., SMS or MMS messagingapplication), a standalone application (e.g., a data analysisapplication), or a browser, for example, and display informationincluded in the alert and/or notification. If the device is offline whenthe alert and/or notification is transmitted, the application may beautomatically activated when the device is online such that the alertand/or notification is displayed. As another example, receipt of thealert and/or notification may cause a browser to open and be redirectedto a login page so that the entity can log and view the alert and/ornotification. Alternatively, the alert and/or notification may include aURL of a webpage (or other online information) associated with the alertand/or notification, such that when the device (e.g., a mobile device)receives the alert, a browser (or other application) is automaticallyactivated and the URL included in the alert and/or notification isaccessed via the Internet.

Various implementations of the present disclosure may be a system, amethod, and/or a computer program product at any possible technicaldetail level of integration. The computer program product may include acomputer readable storage medium (or mediums) having computer readableprogram instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry outaspects of the present disclosure.

For example, the functionality described herein may be performed assoftware instructions are executed by, and/or in response to softwareinstructions being executed by, one or more hardware processors and/orany other suitable computing devices. The software instructions and/orother executable code may be read from a computer readable storagemedium (or mediums).

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store data and/or instructions for use by an instructionexecution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, forexample, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device (includingany volatile and/or non-volatile electronic storage devices), a magneticstorage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storagedevice, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a solid state drive, a random accessmemory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory(SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digitalversatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanicallyencoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groovehaving instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination ofthe foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, isnot to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radiowaves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagneticwaves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signalstransmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions (as also referred to herein as,for example, “code,” “instructions,” “module,” “application,” “softwareapplication,” and/or the like) for carrying out operations of thepresent disclosure may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Java, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. Computer readable program instructions may be callable fromother instructions or from itself, and/or may be invoked in response todetected events or interrupts. Computer readable program instructionsconfigured for execution on computing devices may be provided on acomputer readable storage medium, and/or as a digital download (and maybe originally stored in a compressed or installable format that requiresinstallation, decompression or decryption prior to execution) that maythen be stored on a computer readable storage medium. Such computerreadable program instructions may be stored, partially or fully, on amemory device (e.g., a computer readable storage medium) of theexecuting computing device, for execution by the computing device. Thecomputer readable program instructions may execute entirely on a user'scomputer (e.g., the executing computing device), partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or theconnection may be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider). In some implementations,electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logiccircuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logicarrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions byutilizing state information of the computer readable programinstructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order toperform aspects of the present disclosure.

Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to implementations ofthe disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart(s) and/or block diagram(s)block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on amagnetic disk or solid state drive of a remote computer. The remotecomputer may load the instructions and/or modules into its dynamicmemory and send the instructions over a telephone, cable, or opticalline using a modem. A modem local to a server computing system mayreceive the data on the telephone/cable/optical line and use a converterdevice including the appropriate circuitry to place the data on a bus.The bus may carry the data to a memory, from which a processor mayretrieve and execute the instructions. The instructions received by thememory may optionally be stored on a storage device (e.g., a solid statedrive) either before or after execution by the computer processor.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousimplementations of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block inthe flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, orportion of instructions, which comprises one or more executableinstructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In somealternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occurout of the order noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown insuccession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or theblocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending uponthe functionality involved. In addition, certain blocks may be omittedin some implementations. The methods and processes described herein arealso not limited to any particular sequence, and the blocks or statesrelating thereto can be performed in other sequences that areappropriate.

It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagramsand/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purposehardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts orcarry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions. For example, any of the processes, methods, algorithms,elements, blocks, applications, or other functionality (or portions offunctionality) described in the preceding sections may be embodied in,and/or fully or partially automated via, electronic hardware suchapplication-specific processors (e.g., application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs)), programmable processors (e.g., field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs)), application-specific circuitry, and/or the like(any of which may also combine custom hard-wired logic, logic circuits,ASICs, FPGAs, etc. with custom programming/execution of softwareinstructions to accomplish the techniques).

Any of the above-mentioned processors, and/or devices incorporating anyof the above-mentioned processors, may be referred to herein as, forexample, “computers,” “computer devices,” “computing devices,” “hardwarecomputing devices,” “hardware processors,” “processing units,” and/orthe like. Computing devices of the above-implementations may generally(but not necessarily) be controlled and/or coordinated by operatingsystem software, such as Mac OS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows OS(e.g., Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10,Windows Server, etc.), Windows CE, Unix, Linux, SunOS, Solaris,Blackberry OS, VxWorks, or other suitable operating systems. In otherimplementations, the computing devices may be controlled by aproprietary operating system. Conventional operating systems control andschedule computer processes for execution, perform memory management,provide file system, networking, I/O services, and provide a userinterface functionality, such as a graphical user interface (“GUI”),among other things.

For example, FIG. 6 is a block diagram that illustrates a computersystem 600 upon which various implementations may be implemented (e.g.,data analysis system 108 may be implemented in computer system 600).Computer system 600 includes a bus 602 or other communication mechanismfor communicating information, and a hardware processor, or multipleprocessors 604, coupled with bus 602 for processing information.Hardware processor(s) 604 may be, for example, one or more generalpurpose microprocessors.

Computer system 600 also includes a main memory 606, such as a randomaccess memory (RAM), cache and/or other dynamic storage devices, coupledto bus 602 for storing information and instructions to be executed byprocessor 604. Main memory 606 also may be used for storing temporaryvariables or other intermediate information during execution ofinstructions to be executed by processor 604. Such instructions, whenstored in storage media accessible to processor 604, render computersystem 600 into a special-purpose machine that is customized to performthe operations specified in the instructions.

Computer system 600 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 608 orother static storage device coupled to bus 602 for storing staticinformation and instructions for processor 604. A storage device 610,such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or USB thumb drive (Flash drive),etc., is provided and coupled to bus 602 for storing information andinstructions.

Computer system 600 may be coupled via bus 602 to a display 612, such asa cathode ray tube (CRT) or LCD display (or touch screen), fordisplaying information to a computer user. An input device 614,including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to bus 602 forcommunicating information and command selections to processor 604.Another type of user input device is cursor control 616, such as amouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating directioninformation and command selections to processor 604 and for controllingcursor movement on display 612. This input device typically has twodegrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis(e.g., y), that allows the device to specify positions in a plane. Insome implementations, the same direction information and commandselections as cursor control may be implemented via receiving touches ona touch screen without a cursor.

Computing system 600 may include a user interface module to implement aGUI that may be stored in a mass storage device as computer executableprogram instructions that are executed by the computing device(s).Computer system 600 may further, as described below, implement thetechniques described herein using customized hard-wired logic, one ormore ASICs or FPGAs, firmware and/or program logic which in combinationwith the computer system causes or programs computer system 600 to be aspecial-purpose machine. According to one implementation, the techniquesherein are performed by computer system 600 in response to processor(s)604 executing one or more sequences of one or more computer readableprogram instructions contained in main memory 606. Such instructions maybe read into main memory 606 from another storage medium, such asstorage device 610. Execution of the sequences of instructions containedin main memory 606 causes processor(s) 604 to perform the process stepsdescribed herein. In alternative implementations, hard-wired circuitrymay be used in place of or in combination with software instructions.

Various forms of computer readable storage media may be involved incarrying one or more sequences of one or more computer readable programinstructions to processor 604 for execution. For example, theinstructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk or solid statedrive of a remote computer. The remote computer can load theinstructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over atelephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 600 canreceive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitterto convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector canreceive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriatecircuitry can place the data on bus 602. Bus 602 carries the data tomain memory 606, from which processor 604 retrieves and executes theinstructions. The instructions received by main memory 606 mayoptionally be stored on storage device 610 either before or afterexecution by processor 604.

Computer system 600 also includes a communication interface 618 coupledto bus 602. Communication interface 618 provides a two-way datacommunication coupling to a network link 620 that is connected to alocal network 622. For example, communication interface 618 may be anintegrated services digital network (ISDN) card, cable modem, satellitemodem, or a modem to provide a data communication connection to acorresponding type of telephone line. As another example, communicationinterface 618 may be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a datacommunication connection to a compatible LAN (or WAN component tocommunicate with a WAN). Wireless links may also be implemented. In anysuch implementation, communication interface 618 sends and receiveselectrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital datastreams representing various types of information.

Network link 620 typically provides data communication through one ormore networks to other data devices. For example, network link 620 mayprovide a connection through local network 622 to a host computer 624 orto data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 626.ISP 626 in turn provides data communication services through the worldwide packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the“Internet” 628. Local network 622 and Internet 628 both use electrical,electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. Thesignals through the various networks and the signals on network link 620and through communication interface 618, which carry the digital data toand from computer system 600, are example forms of transmission media.

Computer system 600 can send messages and receive data, includingprogram code, through the network(s), network link 620 and communicationinterface 618. In the Internet example, a server 630 might transmit arequested code for an application program through Internet 628, ISP 626,local network 622 and communication interface 618.

The received code may be executed by processor 604 as it is received,and/or stored in storage device 610, or other non-volatile storage forlater execution.

As described above, in various implementations certain functionality maybe accessible by a user through a web-based viewer (such as a webbrowser), or other suitable software program). In such implementations,the user interface may be generated by a server computing system andtransmitted to a web browser of the user (e.g., running on the user'scomputing system). Alternatively, data (e.g., user interface data)necessary for generating the user interface may be provided by theserver computing system to the browser, where the user interface may begenerated (e.g., the user interface data may be executed by a browseraccessing a web service and may be configured to render the userinterfaces based on the user interface data). The user may then interactwith the user interface through the web-browser. User interfaces ofcertain implementations may be accessible through one or more dedicatedsoftware applications. In certain implementations, one or more of thecomputing devices and/or systems of the disclosure may include mobilecomputing devices, and user interfaces may be accessible through suchmobile computing devices (for example, smartphones and/or tablets).

Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedimplementations, the elements of which are to be understood as beingamong other acceptable examples. All such modifications and variationsare intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure.The foregoing description details certain implementations. It will beappreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoing appearsin text, the systems and methods can be practiced in many ways. As isalso stated above, it should be noted that the use of particularterminology when describing certain features or aspects of the systemsand methods should not be taken to imply that the terminology is beingre-defined herein to be restricted to including any specificcharacteristics of the features or aspects of the systems and methodswith which that terminology is associated.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainimplementations include, while other implementations do not include,certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditionallanguage is not generally intended to imply that features, elementsand/or steps are in any way required for one or more implementations orthat one or more implementations necessarily include logic for deciding,with or without user input or prompting, whether these features,elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in anyparticular implementation.

The term “substantially” when used in conjunction with the term“real-time” forms a phrase that will be readily understood by a personof ordinary skill in the art. For example, it is readily understood thatsuch language will include speeds in which no or little delay or waitingis discernible, or where such delay is sufficiently short so as not tobe disruptive, irritating, or otherwise vexing to a user.

Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, and Z,”or “at least one of X, Y, or Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise,is to be understood with the context as used in general to convey thatan item, term, etc. may be either X, Y, or Z, or a combination thereof.For example, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not inits exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a listof elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements inthe list. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended toimply that certain implementations require at least one of X, at leastone of Y, and at least one of Z to each be present.

The term “a” as used herein should be given an inclusive rather thanexclusive interpretation. For example, unless specifically noted, theterm “a” should not be understood to mean “exactly one” or “one and onlyone”; instead, the term “a” means “one or more” or “at least one,”whether used in the claims or elsewhere in the specification andregardless of uses of quantifiers such as “at least one,” “one or more,”or “a plurality” elsewhere in the claims or specification.

The term “comprising” as used herein should be given an inclusive ratherthan exclusive interpretation. For example, a general purpose computercomprising one or more processors should not be interpreted as excludingother computer components, and may possibly include such components asmemory, input/output devices, and/or network interfaces, among others.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout novel features as applied to various implementations, it may beunderstood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in theform and details of the devices or processes illustrated may be madewithout departing from the spirit of the disclosure. As may berecognized, certain implementations of the inventions described hereinmay be embodied within a form that does not provide all of the featuresand benefits set forth herein, as some features may be used or practicedseparately from others. The scope of certain inventions disclosed hereinis indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: by oneor more processors executing program instructions: receiving a first setof data from a source data system, the first set of data comprising atleast schedule data indicating a schedule of a set of items; receiving asecond set of data from the source data system, the second set of dataincluding at least metric data indicating at least events related to theset of items; generating user interface data useable for rendering theinteractive graphical user interface, the interactive graphical userinterface including at least: a first user interface portion includingat least a plurality of timelines indicating at least a portion of theschedule and generated based at least in part on a subset of theschedule data associated with a selected subset of the set of items,wherein each timeline corresponds to at least one of the items and showsa schedule of the at least one of the items; and one or more indicationsof instances of a selected metric from the metric data, wherein the oneor more indications are spatially located adjacent to timelines of itemsto which the respective instances of the selected metric relate, andwherein the one or more indications are configured to provide a visualrepresentation of whether or not the respective instances of theselected metric are associated with parts of timelines of items;receiving one or more modifications to the schedule of the set of itemsvia one or more of the plurality of timelines of the interactivegraphical user interface; generating schedule update data based at leastin part on the one or more modifications to the schedule; based at leastin part on the schedule update data or the one or more modifications tothe schedule, updating and causing display of the interactive graphicaluser interface indicating an update to the visual representation; andcommunicating the schedule update data to the source data system.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising: by the one ormore processors executing program instructions: periodically orintermittently receiving updates to the first set of data from thesource data system; periodically or intermittently receiving updates tothe second set of data from the source data system; and updating theinteractive graphical user interface in response to receiving at leastthe updates to the first set of data.
 3. The computer-implemented methodof claim 2, wherein the updates to the first set of data are receivedmore frequently than the updates to the second set of data, due at leastin part to a time-sensitivity of the first set of data relative to thesecond set of data.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2further comprising: by the one or more processors executing programinstructions: receiving a first user input, via the first user interfaceportion, selecting a first part of a first timeline of a first item;determining possible schedule change options from others of theplurality of timelines of the selected subset of the items; indicatingor highlighting, in the first user interface portion, parts of theplurality of timelines to indicate the determined possible schedulechange options, if any; and in response to a second user inputindicating a selection of a schedule change option associated with asecond part of a second timeline of a second item: determiningmodifications to the schedules associated with the first item and thesecond item to effectuate the selected schedule change; and updating atleast the first user interface portion to indicate changes to theschedules associated with the first item and the second item in view ofthe selected schedule change.
 5. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 4 further comprising: by the one or more processors executingprogram instructions: generating the schedule update data and/orcommunicating the schedule update data to the source data system areinitiated in response to a third user input.
 6. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 4 further comprising: by the one or more processorsexecuting program instructions: in response to determining modificationsto schedules in response to selection of a schedule change option:determining updates to the one or more indications of instances of theselected metric; and updating at least the first user interface portionto indicate the updates to the updates to the one or more indications.7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein timelinecomprises groupings of the selected subset of items based on at leastone of: user indication of items to pin, results of a search query, alist of all items of a group of related items.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the groupings areseparately sortable and/or filterable.
 9. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 2, wherein the interactive graphical user interfacefurther includes at least: a second user interface portion including atleast calculated metric information associated with a selected part ofthe timeline or a selected indication of an instance of a selectedmetric.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein thecalculated metric information is associated with a selected part of thetimeline comprising a selected movement of an item, and wherein thecomputer-implemented method further comprises: by the one or moreprocessors executing program instructions: determining, for the selectedmovement, one or more possible schedule change options from others ofthe plurality of timelines of the selected subset of the items;calculating updated metric information associated with each of the oneor more possible change options; and including in the second userinterface portion a listing of the possible schedule change options andthe associated updated metric information associated with each.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the updated metricinformation is provided at least in part as one or more colored shapeswith overlaid numerical indicators indicating effects of the one or morepossible schedule change options on various metrics.
 12. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the calculated metricinformation is associated with a first selected indication of aninstance of a selected metric, wherein the first selected indication ofthe instance of the selected metric is associated with a point in timeand a third item, but not associated with a part of a timeline of thethird item, and wherein the computer-implemented method furthercomprises: by the one or more processors executing program instructions:determining, for each of a plurality of subsequent parts of the timelineof the third item, a suitability of the subsequent part of the timelinefor association with first selected indication of the instance of theselected metric; and including in the second user interface portion alisting or graph of the plurality of subsequent parts of the timeline ofthe third item and the associated determined suitabilities associatedwith each.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein theinteractive graphical user interface further includes at least: a thirduser interface portion including at least a log of modifications to theschedule of the set of items.
 14. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 13, wherein the third user interface portion further includes atleast a summary of calculated metric information including a comparisonof the calculated metric information before the modifications to theschedule and after the modifications to the schedule.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the comparison of thecalculated metric information is provided at least in part as one ormore colored shapes with overlaid numerical indicators indicatingeffects of the modification to the schedule on various metrics.
 16. Asystem comprising: a computer readable storage medium having programinstructions embodied therewith; and one or more processors configuredto execute the program instructions to cause the system to perform thecomputer-implemented method of claim
 1. 17. A computer program productcomprising a computer readable storage medium having programinstructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable byone or more processors to cause the one or more processors to performthe computer-implemented method of claim 1.